09-08-2012, 08:01 AM
Seems as though DISH will carry the national channel and will have a few channels allocated for overflow games when required.
That is fine, really. After watching the Pac-12 channels online for two weeks I noticed that the seven channels had the same content. I am sure down the road the regionals will have different recap and highlight shows in prime time, but that just does not seem to be reason enough for DISH to carry all seven 24/7. In B-Ball season presumably there will be several Thursday nights that require overflow channels, but that can't be a big problem most of the time. And with a quality internet connection there is a reasonable option for those times when a fan REALLY wants to watch 2-14 Washington State vs 3-13 Oregon State in basketball.
I think the Pac-12 really wants to get at least two channels, National and LA, on DirecTV. As a Stanford fan, I think I do not want that actually. It creates a sense that the LA teams are more important than the other 10 teams.
In any event, DirecTV will now be under enormous pressure to reach a similar agreement. DirecTV tries to imply that Dish Network is the cheap no-frills satellite provider, but that positioning is going to ring hollow throughout 2 time zones if they can't get the Pac-12 Networks ASAP.
The Dish Network signing was just a big deal. I am confident DirecTV will now need to have something up and running before the SC v UCB game. And then the other providers will be forced to sign something, and those that have tried to regionalize the Pac-12 will need to offer the channel nationally.
Friday was a very big day.
That is fine, really. After watching the Pac-12 channels online for two weeks I noticed that the seven channels had the same content. I am sure down the road the regionals will have different recap and highlight shows in prime time, but that just does not seem to be reason enough for DISH to carry all seven 24/7. In B-Ball season presumably there will be several Thursday nights that require overflow channels, but that can't be a big problem most of the time. And with a quality internet connection there is a reasonable option for those times when a fan REALLY wants to watch 2-14 Washington State vs 3-13 Oregon State in basketball.
I think the Pac-12 really wants to get at least two channels, National and LA, on DirecTV. As a Stanford fan, I think I do not want that actually. It creates a sense that the LA teams are more important than the other 10 teams.
In any event, DirecTV will now be under enormous pressure to reach a similar agreement. DirecTV tries to imply that Dish Network is the cheap no-frills satellite provider, but that positioning is going to ring hollow throughout 2 time zones if they can't get the Pac-12 Networks ASAP.
The Dish Network signing was just a big deal. I am confident DirecTV will now need to have something up and running before the SC v UCB game. And then the other providers will be forced to sign something, and those that have tried to regionalize the Pac-12 will need to offer the channel nationally.
Friday was a very big day.